Biopharmaceutical
Company with a
Discovery Platform
(ADEPT®)
Optimvia is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in engineering enzymes and their cofactors to synthesize complex therapeutic molecules. Our first breakthrough product using the ADEPT Platform is biosynthetic heparin. We have created new enzymes and a cofactor to recapitulate the natural synthesis of heparin.
Why Proteins?
Proteins are the most diverse molecule in the body, and are responsible for nearly every function. Much like a digital code for computers, the specific amino acid sequence of a protein determines its shape and function.
Through our ADEPT® Platform, we can use these amino acid sequences to build new proteins, with new functions.
At Optimvia, we are engineering proteins for therapeutic uses, from anti-coagulation to treating cancer.
The Global Impact of Heparin
Per Year
Each Year
Per Year
Each Year
2007 –2008 Heparin Supply Contamination
“Caused >150 Deaths and 1000s of Serious Adverse Events”
60-70% of Supply Sourced from China
“Undiversified Supply Chain at Risk”
Epidemic
Vulnerabilities
“African Swine Fever and Blue Ear Disease Can Decimate Herds”
Biologically
Derived
“Global Need Limited by Livestock Production”
“Congress Launches Investigation into Heparin Shortage”
US Senate Energy and Commerce Committee leaders sent a letter on July 30, 2019 to FDA Commissioner Norman Sharpless.
Imminent Risk of a Global Shortage of Heparin
“Imminent Risk of a Global Shortage of Heparin Caused by theAfrican Swine Fever Afflicting the Chinese Pig Herd”
Journal of Thrombosis and Hematology.
2019 Feb 1.
Our Partnerships
Ginkgo Bioworks
Optimvia has recently partnered with Ginkgo Bioworks, the leading horizontal platform for cell programming, to improve the manufacturing efficiency of our biosynthetic heparin technology.
With this partnership, we aim to scale our technology to economically meet the global heparin demand, and remove slaughtered animals from the equation entirely.
Board of Directors
Keith M. Kleeman
CEO and Chair of the Board
Mr. Kleeman is an experienced healthcare / pharmaceutical executive and an expert in pharmaceutical regulatory strategy.
James E Rothman, PhD
Steve Geis, PhD MD
Director
Dr. Geis is currently a principal at Geis-Hides Consulting, a firm that provides scientific, medical, and managerial solutions to partners across a spectrum of therapeutic areas in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Mick Kowitz
Director
Mick Kowitz is an expert in AI, Natural Language Processing and a pioneer in speech recognition and holds 14 patents in speech recognition and natural language processing technologies in both consumer and healthcare markets.
